New Jersey may let bow hunters closer to buildings to shoot deer

Aiming to curb the deer population, the state legislature has approved a bill that would allow bow hunters to shoot at deer as close as 150 feet from homes. Currently, hunters have to be 450 feet from occupied buildings.

Gov. Chris Christie, whose office did not respond to calls seeking comment, has not said if he would sign the legislation, but Assemblyman Gary Chiusano (R-Sussex), one of the bill’s sponsors, said he did not anticipate any objection.

“We need to keep the herd in check,” Chiusano said. “One of the ways is to relax the restrictions on bow hunting.”

The proposed law would apply to all legal hunting grounds in New Jersey but would not override any local ordinances. There are 39,000 licensed bow hunters in the state, according to the Department of Enviornmental Protection.

The 450-foot boundary will remain in effect for schools and playgrounds, and for those using shotguns.

The change in law is necessary, supporters say, to make it easier to get at deer congregating near buildings where grass and shrubs are often in greater supply, and to track deer that retreat during the hunt.

“They will flee the woods for the developed area,” said Cindy Ehrenclou, executive director of the Upper Raritan Watershed Association. “So I understand why they’re trying to decrease the buffer.”

Ehrenclou said her organization, which serves parts of Somerset, Hunterdon and Morris counties, supports hunting because deer are destroying the state’s biodiversity. But she worries that 150 feet is too close.

“I think going from 450 to 150 is a little extreme,” she said, suggesting 250 feet as an appropriate compromise. “I worry about safety.”

So did State Sen. Richard Codey (D-Essex), one of seven senators who voted against the bill.

“The people I represent, have no desire for hunters to be 150 feet from their house,” Codey said. “The idea that somebody could be 150 feet from a house, shooting an arrow into a deer, is pretty disturbing to people in my district.”

There are approximately 130,000 deer in the state, according to the DEP. That is far fewer than the 200,000 that roamed the state in the mid 1990’s, but still enough to pose a significant threat to motorists and farmers.

“We have a problem in New Jersey – we have too many deer,” said Anthony Mauro, chairman of the New Jersey Outdoor Alliance. “They don’t just destroy the habitat they live in, they destroy the habitat other creatures live in.”

Chiusano said the bill is also designed to help farmers protect crops.

The bill specifies that the arrow may only be shot from an elevated position – aimed on a downward plane – and cannot be fired into the restricted perimeter.

“If I’m in the 65 zone, I know I can do 72 miles an hour and not get a ticket,” Tittel said. “And that’s the concern here, especially if you’re tracking an animal that doesn’t see signs or boundaries.”

Safety concerns, though, were largely dismissed by hunters, who point to Pennsylvania, which made the same change in 2006. No injuries or accidents have been attributed to the change, according to Chiusano.

“Am I concerned?” Mauro said. “No. What you’re depending on is people to use their common sense and judgment.”

New Jersey Local News Service reporter Veronica Slaght contributed to this report.